Paterson Vows Vote on Gay Marriage Before Break

ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson said in an interview Sunday night that he would make sure that the State Senate votes on same sex-marriage legislation before it breaks for the summer, hours after he and his administration had refused to commit to forcing a vote on the issue.

The development came as the governor announced plans to call the Senate to a special session on Tuesday, after trying unsuccessfully for two weeks to broker a compromise in a leadership battle that has deadlocked the chamber. But Mr. Paterson dismayed gay rights groups in his comments at a news conference early Sunday afternoon, when he said same-sex marriage would not be on the special session’s agenda.

“It has always been my intention to see same-sex marriage come to the floor,” he said, adding, “I don’t want there to be any confusion.”

Barring a last-minute settlement between the factions, the governor will convene the special session on Tuesday. The chamber was left in its first 31-to-31 tie after Pedro Espada Jr., a Democrat from the Bronx, claimed the title of Senate president when he joined a Republican-led coup earlier this month.

“If the senators do not cooperate with this order, I will convene a special session every day until they do,” the governor said at the news conference. “That includes Saturdays and Sundays. That includes July 4. There will be no excuses.”

The last day of the Legislature’s regular session is Monday. The governor may call lawmakers back for a special session, and he sets their agenda, but they are not compelled to bring any of the legislation to a vote.

Indeed, the Republicans rejected the governor’s latest attempt to mediate the dispute, suggesting that the two feuding Senate factions could have a combative session when all 62 senators are forced to return to work on Tuesday.

The governor has proposed to have Jonathan Lippman, chief judge of the State Court of Appeals, temporarily preside over the Senate; the Republicans say they already claimed leadership of the chamber in a disputed vote held two weeks ago, and suggest that using Justice Lippman would raise “troublesome separation of powers issues,” according to a statement from Dean G. Skelos, the Republican leader.

“It makes no sense at all,” said John McArdle, a spokesman for the Senate Republicans. “The constitution is clear that there has to be a temporary president, and we have one right now.”

The governor said that the special session will focus on routine but urgent legislation that local governments depend upon, like bills to extend local sales taxes or allow bond issuance. His staff said he would also include legislation to extend mayoral control over New York City’s schools in the list of bills he submits to the Senate.

Mr. Paterson said he wanted the Senate to address “pieces of legislation that are time-sensitive in terms of resources that our local government needs.”

“What’s most important about Tuesday is that we get the Senate working again,” he added.

At the news conference Sunday, he said he might call a subsequent special session to take up more substantive issues, unless the Senate acted on its own. But he would not detail the particular issues, nor would his staff say same-sex marriage continued to be a priority.

The uncertainty upset gay rights groups, as the governor has been a stalwart champion in Albany and because Mr. Espada, the leader of a Republican-dominated voting bloc, has been eager to bring the issue up for a vote.

In the interview Sunday night, Mr. Paterson said he had wanted not wanted to reveal how he would proceed on same-sex marriage so as not to further inflame tensions on the issue. The matter could also complicate delicate negotiations under way on a power-sharing agreement to get the Senate functioning again. One Democrat, Senator Ruben Díaz Sr., is the chamber’s most outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage, and his allegiance to the Democratic caucus is seen as tenuous.

The governor said Sunday night that he was dismayed by the outcry from gay rights advocates and decided he needed to clarify his intentions.

“I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize it,” he said of the legislation. “But I think, because of the activity that went on today, I am forced to reveal my true intentions, even though the advocates knew them already.”

He added that he was “cautious about how this overt expression of wanting marriage equality on the floor is going to affect the outcome.”

Gay rights advocates had found the governor’s earlier reticence to commit to bring the matter to a vote inexplicable, given his longstanding support of gay issues — Mr. Paterson is scheduled to be a grand marshal of the New York City gay pride parade next week — and his insistence that the same-sex marriage bill be voted upon before the end of this legislative session.

The Empire State Pride Agenda, a gay rights group, called the exclusion of the bill from the agenda an insult.

“Not to include marriage for same-sex couples as a priority for Tuesday’s extraordinary session is an insult to millions of gay and lesbian people and their families,” the group’s executive director, Alan Van Capelle, said in a written statement issued after the governor’s press conference Sunday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, others, including Assemblyman Daniel J. O’Donnell, who sponsored the legislation in the Assembly, said they had continued to receive such assurances that it would be taken up.